Railway refrigerator car



m. 14, 1933. a G ILHN 1,897,426

RAILWAY REFRIGERATOR CAR Original Filed Dec. 5, 19 30 3 Sheets-Sheet 1Feb. 14, 1933. G. G. GILPIN 2 RAILWAY REFRIGERATOR CAR Original FiledDec. 5, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 E2 ven for G. G. GILPIN 1,897,426

EFRIGERA'I'QR CAR 3 Shets-Sheet 3 l lI-lllllll RAILWAY R Original FiledDec. 5. 1930 Feb. 14, 1933.

I I I l l I I l l l I l l I I l I l l II Patented Feb. 14, 1933 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE GARTH G. GILPHQ, OI RIVERSIDE, ILLINOIS, ASBIGNOB'ro men man raomrc'ra COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION 01DELAWARE RAILWAY REFRIGERATOR GAB Application fled December 5, 1930,Serial No. 500,158. Renewed July 5, 1983.

- The invention relates to refrigerator cars used b railways totransport perishable commo ities, such as meat, milk, fruit andvegetables, which cars have their side walls, end walls, floors androofs insulated and are provided with an ice box or basket at one orboth ends of the car. Hatchways are provided above the ice boxes foricing the ice box, which are closed by hatch plugs. The melting icecools the interior of the car and its contents by the cool air movingdownwardly through an air space which surrounds the ice basket, thencealong the floor end, being warmed by the lading, rising to adjacent theceiling and thence toward one of the ice boxes where it is cooled andrepeats the movement. False floors are furnished to kee the ladingslightly oil the floor.

uch ice boxes are formed by providing an insulated partition orbulkhead, as it is called, about four feet from the end of the car,which bulkhead does not quite extend to the floor, nor to the roof orceiling of the car, so as to permit the movement of air heretoforedescribed. A grilled latticed or openwork door of some kind is usuallyhinged to the lower margin of the bulkheadto keep foreign matter out ofthe ice box and for cleaning the ice box. The space between the uppermargin of the bulkhead and the ceiling of the car is partially closed bya grille or netting to also keep foreign matter out ofthe ice box.

As packages, boxes and barrels containing heavy contents are frequentlyloaded in such refrigerator cars, these bulkheads'must be very strong toresist the tendency of the cargo to shift, which tendency is caused bythe sudden stopping or starting of the train. This inertia force hasbeen greatly increased in recent years by the use of heavy locomotives,long trains, hump yards and car retarders. The bulkhead is insulated sothat the air cannot penetrate it and thus destroy the circulatingmovement heretofore described.

It is customary to provide end walls for ordinary box or house carswhich comprise a metallic plate or plates provided with a plurality ofparallel contiguous corrugations which are preferably positionedhorizontally and terminate within the lplate or plates ad acent theopposite side wa ls of the car to a which said plates are secured. Sucha corrugated end wall has proved to be very efficient in resistingshifting cargo and also in preserving the rectangularity of the entiresuperstructure of the car. Such an end wall ma be lined or eveninsulated if desired.

ne of the objects of this invention is to provide a metallic bulkhead orpartition which extends between the opposite side walls of the car andto adjacent floor and roof respectively of the car and comprises a ityof horizontally disposed beams their opposite ends secured to the sidewalls of the car, to which the ice box nettin and insulation aresecured, such beams being perforated to permit circulation of the air.

Another object of the invention is to provide a strut or struts betweenthe end wall and bulkhead of a refrigerator car so that they mutuallyreinforce each other, and a still further object is to so form suchstrut or struts so that the ice box or basket is divided into two ormore parts having a circulation of air between such parts whereby theefliciency of the ice box is increased.

Another object is to provide diagonal braces which reinforce thebulkhead at its pluraljunctures with the side walls of the car,

which preferably transmit stresses therefrom to the end sill and endplate, respectively of the car.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a cross section of a refrigerator car incorporating myinvention wherein the left side of the center line shows a view lookingtoward the ice box or baskets of the car and the right side of thecenter line is a section through the ice box or baskets of the car.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through the car showing the relation ofthe end wall, bulkhead and ice baskets.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section through the end wall and partition andstruts.

Fig. 4 shows the relation between the beam, netting and sheathing of theinsular tion.

In the accompanying drawings the usual aving The end of the car isreinforced by a-metallic plate provided with a plurality of ofsubstantially parallel corrugations which preferably merge togetheradjacent their middles to form a lesser'number of preferably deepercorrugations, which construction provides a relatively stiff and strongend wall adjacent its middle and a relatively weak and resilient endwall adjacent the side walls of the car to which it is secured. This endwall is preferably insulated in the usual manner shown in Fig. 2. p

The bulkhead comprises a plurality of horizontally .beams 30, each ofwhich preferablycomprise a web 31 and a vertical flange 32 at eachmargin thereof, such as the I-beam shown in the drawings, or a rolledZbar or channel section.. The netting forming the ice basket is securedto said beams on one side thereof and the insulation is secured to saidbeams on the other side thereof. Each of the beams is'provided with aplurality of apertures 33 to allow circulation of the air. When anI-beam, Z-bar or channel section is used these apertures are punched inthe webs. The ends of these beams are secured to a vertical member 34attached to the side walls of the car, which member is reinforced by adiagonal brace 35 extending from adjacent the middle of the member 34 tothe end sill 2 of the car and also preferably by another similardiagonal member 36 extending to the side plate 3 of the car.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section showing the beam comprising a web 60,inner upright flange 61 and outer depending flange 62. The netting 63 issecured to the upright flange by means of the bolt 64 and washer and apreferably wooden nailing strip 66 is secured to the web of thebeam bymeans of the bolts 67 to which the sheathing 68 is nailed. Thissheathing backs up the insulation of the bulkhead, which is not shown.The aperture 56 extends through the nailing strip 66 and web 60 of thebeam.

The ice box is located between the end wall and the bulkhead andcomprises a series of ice grates 40 supported by a beam 41 adjacent theend wall of the car and by brackets 42 secured to the horizontalbeam-forming the bulkhead. Any convenient form of ice grates may beused. The ice basket comprises a netting 44, adjacent to but spacedapart from the end wall, bulkhead and side walls, respectively, andthe'ice is placed into 35 this basket.

ing. a plurality of horizontally 0 1,ee7,4ae

The strut-beam between the end wall and bulkhead comprises a of seedapart I-beams 50 exten g from the i111:- head to adjacent the end wall16, which are shown secured to the bulkhead by means of two uprightangles. 51 and are also secured to the end wall of the carb) similarupright angles 52. The upright angles 52 are secured to and backed up bya preferably wooden strip 57 in contact with the endsheathing which inturn is incontact with the corrugations in the metallic end wall.These-upright angles constitute spreader beams to distribute the thrustover the bulkhead and end wall, respectively. I In this construction thenetting 54 forming the ice basket is se cured toopposite sides of theI-beams or struts 50 and apertures 56 are provided in such I-beams orstruts to allow the circulation of air, which apertures may be largeperforations in alignment, as shown in Fig. 3, or may be formed of aplurality of gered smaller holes. In this arrangement e ice basket isdivided into two parts which allows more air to descend adjacent the icetherefore increases the cooling capacity o the ice box; in other words,the partition or strut not only transmits horizontal loads from thebulkhead to the end wall and vice versa, but also provides meansto.increase the cooling capacity of the ice box. 7 7 1 The accompanyingdrawings illustrate the preferred form of theinvention, though it is tobe understood that the invention is not m limited to the exact detailsof construction. shown and described, as'it is obviousthat variousmodifications thereof, within the scope of the claims, will occur topersons skilled in the art. 1

I claim:

1. A bulkhead for a railway refrigerator car having spaced apart sidewalls comprising a plurality of horizontally disposed beams having theiropposite ends secured to said side walls respectively, an insulationsecured to said beams on one side thereof, and a netting secured to saidbeams on the other side thereof, said beams being provided withapertures to allow circulation of air between the insulation and thenetting.

, 2. A bulkhead for a railway refrigerator car having spaced apart sidewalls comprising a plurality of horizontally dis beams, each having aweb and a vertical ange at each margin thereof, said beams having theiropposite ends secured to said side walls respectively, an insulationsecured to the flanges on one side of the webs, and a netting secured tothe flanges on the other side of the webs, said webs being provided withapertures to allow circulation of air between the insulation and thenetting.

- 3. A bulkhead for a railway refrigeratpr car having spaced apart sidewalls comprisi 2 I l-i". I

beams, each having a web and a vertical flange at one margin thereof,said beams having their opposite ends secured to said side wallsrespectively, nailing strips secured to said webs, an insulation securedto saidnailing strip, and a netting secured to said flanges, said websand nailing strips being provided with apertures to allow circulation ofair between the insulation and the netting.

4. A bulkhead for a railway refrigerator car having spaced apart sidewalls comprising a pluralit of horizontally disposed beams having t eiropposite ends secured to said side walls respectively, an insulationsecured to said beams on one side thereof, and a netting secured to saidbeams on the other side thereof, said beams being provided withapertures to allow circulation of air between the insulation and thenetting, the lowermost of beams being provided with means to support icebox grates.

5. In a refrigerator car having an end wall and a bulkhead, thecombination of an ice basket positioned between the end wall andbulkhead comprising two parts separated by a partition extending betweenthe end wall and bulkhead, said partition comprising a plurality ofhorizontal members having apertures therein to allow circulation of air,and a netting secured to each side of said members.

6. In a refrigerator car, the combination of an ice basket comprisingtwo parts separated by a partition, said partition comprising aplurality of horizontal members having apertures therein to allowcirculation of air, and a netting secured to each side of said members.

7. In a railway refrigerator car having spaced apart side walls, an endwall and a bulkhead, the combination of a metallic plate end wallattached to the side walls and formed with a plurality of horizontalcorrugations, said bulkhead comprising horizontally disposed beams withtheir opposite ends secured to the side walls with an insulation on oneside of said beams and a netting on the other side thereof, said beamsprovided with apertures to allow circulation of air, and a partitionextending longitudinall of the car between the end wall an bulkhea saidpartition comprising a plurality of horizontal members having aperturestherein to allow circulation of-air and having a netting secured to eachside of said members.

GARTH G. GILPIN.

